Indie band Broken Bells helps defend Earth against asteroids

American indie rock band Broken Bells will donate $1 from every ticket sold for their upcoming tour to help protect its fans from asteroids. The band is looking to accomplish this by working together with the B612 Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to that exact purpose. Anyone who buys a ticket to the April 15th after-party can expect to see not only Broken Bells but also foundation notables like Dr. Marc Buie, the mission specialist on the Sentinel project, and Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut and cofounder of B612.

All this is part of an attempt to raise awareness and funding for the deep space telescopethat the B612 Foundation is planning to launch sometime in 2017 or 2018. Named Sentinel, the telescope's purpose is to identify and catalogue asteroids in our solar system that are above 98 feet in diameter in order to provide advanced warning against possible collisions.